PHOTO GALLERY BY GILBERT ALCARAZ
Arizona’s defense dominated in the Wildcats’ Big 12 home opener with a 34-7 victory over Cincinnati on Family Weekend at Casino del Sol Stadium Saturday night.
“We knew they came into the game averaging 270 rushing yards, so the goal was to keep them under 100,” fifth-year linebacker Chase Kennedy said about the defensive plan. “When we stopped the run, we knew everything was going to be in our hands, and we were able to get after the quarterback.”
Kennedy and the Arizona defense held the Cincinnati (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) rushing attack to 74 yards, a season low.
Arizona (4-1, 1-1) drove down the field with ease on the first drive. The drive was highlighted by a 19-yard catch-and-run by a returning sophomore wide receiver, Giovanni Richardson, who missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. Also, a run by senior Kendrick Reescano, refusing to go down, taking a handful of Bearcats to do so, was a big play.
Reescano finished the drive with a 10-yard run to put the Wildcats on the board.
“You see Ked (Reescano), you see Quincy (Craig) run; as a defender, if I played defense, I would not want to be in front of that,” junior wide receiver Brandon Phelps said about the running back room. “They choose redline every single day, and they’re great leaders on our team.
It was the Wildcats’ first lead in the first quarter since their 28-17 loss against BYU in the second game of the season.
Arizona’s defense forced a quick 3-and-out, giving the ball back to the offense. But fifth-year Cincinnati cornerback MJ Cannon picked off a Fifita pass thrown right to him, putting Cincinnati at Arizona’s 32-yard line.
The interception wouldn’t cost Arizona anything.
Cincinnati attempted a 53-yard field goal only for it to hit the right upright. Junior cornerback Tyrese Boss should get credit for the miss, after his 7-yard sack on the previous down made the attempt difficult for the Bearcats.
Two chunk plays by Craig set Arizona up for what looked to be another score, but Reescano came up short on a fourth-and-2, giving the ball back to Cincinnati.
With under six minutes to go in the half, Cincinnati got all the way down to Arizona’s 2-yard line.
Arizona’s defense made another fourth down stop with an incomplete pass from fifth-year quarterback JC French IV to junior tight end Gavin Grover.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 10-0 in the final second of the half with a 23-yard field goal by junior kicker Michael Salgado-Medina.
For the rest of the game, Arizona was without its wide receiver trio of Richardson, junior Chris Hunter III, and senior Tré Spivey III. All three went down with injuries
“All season we’ve been talking about the depth of the receiver room,” coach Brent Brennan said about his receiver room stepping up. “That’s going to be super super critical now as we move forward.”
Fifth-year running back Antwan Roberts Jr. broke free for a long run, only to fumble right before the end zone, but luck was on the Wildcats’ side. Illegal touching by fifth-year cornerback Antwan Peek, who knocked the ball out of bounds while in the end zone, meant the Wildcats retained possession.
Arizona capitalized with an 8-yard touchdown run by fifth-year quarterback Noah Fifita, extending the Arizona lead to 17.
Arizona ended the night with 238 rushing yards, its first 200-yard rushing game since last season’s 52-17 victory over Colorado, rushing for 204 yards that game.
Arizona’s defense continued to assert its dominance over the Bearcats offense, stopping them yet again on a fourth and short. Giving the ball back to Fifita and the offense.
“We knew they wanted to run the ball, and we said no,” Brennan said.
Arizona got into the red zone easily, with Fifita extending the play with his feet and finding sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Mizell on a 30-yard gain.
A few plays later, Fifita hit Phelps on a 23-yard pass for another Arizona score. Phelps broke the initial tackle, leading to his score, giving Arizona a 24-0 lead entering the fourth.
“We’ve been running that play all week. I knew that ball was coming to me because they were rushing really hard,” Phelps said. “I slipped through and then made a play on the ball, made one miss and got a little touchdown.”
In the early minutes of the fourth quarter, Salgado-Medina knocked in another field goal from 35 yards.
Arizona found the end zone one more time with another pass from Fifita, this time to senior tight end Tyler Powell for a 5-yard score.
After the two-minute timeout, Cincinnati found the endzone for the first time on the night with a 2-yard run by French IV, breaking the Arizona shutout.
“We’re going to enjoy this tonight, and then we’re going to get back tomorrow on our process, and that is one day at a time, one meeting at a time, one practice at a time, one rep at a time, that is where we live,” Brennan said.
What’s Next?
The Wildcats travel across the country to Morgantown, W. Va., for next week’s game against the West Virginia Mountaineers and former head coach Rich Rodriguez. Former Canyon del Oro and Arizona running back Kayden Luke is also at West Virginia.
The only previous matchup was in 2024, Brennan’s first year. The Mountaineers left Tucson with a 31-26 victory over the Wildcats.
Kickoff is at 9 a.m., Tucson time, on TNT.
Recommended for you
